


Little Flurries of Butterflies

by bitchywitchy



Series: Of cute ghost boys and a girl with an angel's voice [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship, they are both little pining babies and its very fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitchywitchy/pseuds/bitchywitchy
Summary: After the school dance where they failed to show up, Luke realizes that he needs to apologize. And what's the best way to apologize? Alone, in a girl's bedroom, late at night. (It's very innocent and full of pining).OrI feel like Julie deserved a stronger apology from the boys after they abandoned her at the dance, so I wrote one.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: Of cute ghost boys and a girl with an angel's voice [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942507
Comments: 16
Kudos: 363





	Little Flurries of Butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic after a very long hiatus. These ghost boys took over my brain and wouldn't leave until I wrote something. Hope y'all enjoy!

What the fuck. 

Those are Luke’s first thoughts as he lands in their studio. 

His second thought is, “Who is she?”. She, being the girl currently screaming at him. Then, he realizes, and he’s not ashamed to admit it, he’s also screaming, but it was definitely a manly scream, you know, only befitting a rock god. 

And that’s how his first meeting with Julie starts. Sure, maybe it wasn’t the best first impression but cut him a little slack, he did just find out that he is a ghost and somehow 20 years have passed in the couple hours spent in the dark room where Alex was crying (and maybe he was crying a little bit to, but no one really needed to know that). 

But then, he realizes people can hear them, their music (which was honestly the only thing really liked about himself, so maybe it was better than the only thing that everyone could still sense because it’s the only thing that’s never caused him to hate himself.), and suddenly his new ghost life doesn’t seem that bad. 

But, when they performed with Julie, everyone could see and hear them. She made them whole (and a little part of his brain that he thought he had buried when he decided to dedicate his life to becoming a rock god, who could prove to his parents that he knew what he was doing with his life, perked up. Thought ‘pretty girl. Talented girl. Brilliant girl’ and of course, the one person that makes you feel seen and whole is the one girl who makes you all seen), she makes him whole in a way that he hadn’t felt since the sound call before the unfortunate street dog accident. 

He feels alive. (It’s a little scary to realize the first time he feels truly alive is when he’s dead.)

\------------------

Then, he fucks up. Of course he does. They miss the dance, they embarrass her, all because they were caught up in the joy of being seen, of eating real food, of having pretty girls touch them, of being caught up on everything they missed, (it sucks that he and Alex didn’t tell Reggie about Star Wars, but they both knew they couldn’t handle his confused and frustrated ‘why couldn’t we have stayed alive and seen all this stuff ourselves’ face). 

They try to apologize. It goes about as well as you’d think. (It didn’t help that Reggie mentioned the twins). 

Then, she says “Just please tell me it had nothing to do with getting back at Carrie’s Dad.”

Which hurts. It hurts because he knows that she knows him, knows them, more than he knows her. They try to deny the truth, but they all know they fucked up. 

Then, even more painful, “Seriously? You’re lying to me?” 

And he knows Julie aimed this at the three of them, but in his mind, it’s solely aimed at him. In his mind, she really says. 

“After everything I trusted you with, everything I’ve done for you, you’d tell me a stupid lie because you’re too ashamed to admit that you hurt me.”

And it sucks. He’s sure there’s a better word for it, but hey, he dropped out after his junior year to form Sunset Curve, so. 

But, back to the point. They fucked up. He fucked up. And then she hit where it hurts most. 

“And all three of you knew what I’ve been through, and how tough it’s been for me to play, and then you do this? Bands don’t do that to each other. _Friends_ don’t do that to each other”. 

More words are said, but all it really comes to is that she’s out of the band. The one person who makes them a band; makes them able to be seen, to do something they literally died to do, has left the band. 

Again, he fucked up. 

\-----------------

He’s never been great at apologizing. Chalk it up to being an only child, or being in a band where all they had were each other, but he’s never had to genuinely apologize. With the band, especially Alex and Reggie, all he had to say after an argument was a half muttered ‘I’m sorry’ and everything was fine. He had a feeling that apologizing to Julie wasn’t going to be as easy. 

“Hey, can I talk to you?” He hovers outside of her door, able to deduce that appearing inside of her room probably wouldn’t be appreciated. 

“I don’t know. Are you about to drop me to get revenge on some guy who hasn’t thought about you in twenty years?” is the response. 

And, ouch. The retort is on the tip of his ghostly tongue, (I wouldn’t consider taking all of my work and passing it off as his own would count as not thinking about me in twenty years), but even he has the sense that arguing during an apology wouldn’t be the best move. 

“Please Julie? I know we-I- messed up-”

“Messed up? Messed up? Messing up is forgetting the lyrics to a song during a performance. Messing up is forgetting to order enough food for everyone during a practice. Messing up is not making your bandmate, especially one who hasn’t been able to sing for a year, look like an idiot during her first performance in front of her whole high school!” Julie’s voice cracks on the school and Luke’s heart cracks along with it. 

“Can I at least come in? Please? Then you can yell at me to my face?” He tries to inject some humor, hoping it will ward of Julie’s tears (again, he’s never been great at dealing with a crying girl. Maybe Alex should have done this apology instead). 

A sniffle, then, “Fine. You get two minutes” 

With a relieved sigh, Luke steps through Julie’s door. And stops in the entrance, taking in her tear swollen eyes, the remnants of a bowl of ice cream (mint chocolate chip he thinks), and the fiercest scowl he’s ever seen. 

“Your two minutes start now.” Julie snaps, pulling out her phone and setting a timer. 

“Uh okay. So first of all, we’re all so sorry. We know what this dance meant to you and we know that we fucked up not being there for you. And I promise that we didn’t just miss it to get revenge on Bobby-Carrie’s Dad, but I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t like an itty bitty part of the reason why we weren’t there, but anyway, the main reason why we weren’t there was because of this dude, well ghost, ex-magician? Whatever, Willie, oh I forgot you haven’t met him yet, he’s Alex’s friend, told us about this guy, Caleb, who runs this like a ghost club, but he could also make us visible to anyone, even when we’re not singing and-” 

“Oh cool, so you didn’t abandon me to get revenge on Carrie’s dad but to find a way to perform without me. Awesome. Totally makes sense.” Luke knows Julie’s being snarky, but it comes out hurt and bitter too. 

“Wait no,” Luke rushes to say, “It’s not that we wanted a way to get rid of you, of course we don’t! You’re literally the best part of the band-please don’t tell Alex or Reggie I said that-you’re brilliant, and so so so talented, and beautiful-” Luke cuts off as he realizes he’s about to reveal a lot than he ever wanted her to know. 

He shakes his head and starts again, “It’s stupid, but Caleb was able to give us some food we could eat-side note, I had no idea how much I missed burgers-and we were around other ghosts who could touch us. And it sucks and I knew it’s messed up, but the main reason why we stayed is that we felt normal. I know it’s no excuse, but Alex and Reggie looked so happy. And something about the club was so weird, it’s like time stopped. I know it’s not a good excuse. Nothing can excuse the fact that we hurt you. You’ve become one of the most important people in our lives, and I promise it’s just because you can make us seen. I’m sorry, We’re all so sorry. We’ll do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness.” With that Luke’s done and he leans against her wall waiting for a response. 

Julie’s lost the scowl, but he can still see the hurt in her eyes. “Ugh, would you get a little closer, it’s not like I can hurt you. I can’t even touch you.” 

Luke allows himself a small smile as he moves to perch on her bed. 

Julie sighs and she almost seems to shrink on herself. Luke always forgets how small she is. She fills any room she’s in, seems larger than life with her incredible voice and her warmth. She makes every room feel brighter, warmer, almost like the sunshine he desperately wishes he could still feel on his skin. 

“I don’t know how to forgive you guys yet.” Julie meets his eyes. “You hurt me in a way I’ve never been hurt before. I haven’t had to rely on someone else during a performance ever and it sucked feeling like I wasn’t important enough for you guys or that you had other things to do than perform at a stupid high school dance. Of course a band with cute ghosts would have something better to do than sing with some girl during a high school dance. This was my one chance to prove that I was more than the girl who shut down and pushed everyone away after her mom died. This was my chance to be “Julie, the girl who sings” instead of “Julie, the girl with the dead mom”. And with that sentence, Julie’s bottom lip wobbles and a sob breaks lose. 

Luke stars in horror, not at her, but as the weight of how much they messed up sinks in. “Julie I am so so sorry. Please don’t cry. Please tell me how to fix this.” 

Julie lets out a half laugh-half sob as she says “Normally when I have a break down about my mom Flynn hugs me but, well, I don’t think that’s going to work with you” 

Luke doesn’t know how to react. At that moment all he wants to do is hug her, take away the hurt he caused. But he can’t. So he does the only thing that he still knows how to do. Talk. 

“You know the first time I heard you sing, I couldn’t believe it. Here was this beautiful girl, who brought us back to our studio, with an incredible voice. Well, incredible isn’t a strong enough word. Your voice made me feel alive. Alive in a way I didn’t even feel when I was actually alive. And then, you were able to make us visible. You have no idea what you gave us. Sure, you gave as the ability to perform, but you also gave us you. You complete us, you complete me, in a way that we didn’t realize was missing until we met you. You make me feel like I have a purpose. And I can’t thank you enough for that. I’m sorry we hurt you. You don’t deserve that.” Luke finishes and hopes he didn’t scare Julie with how much she meant to him. 

“Oh” Is all Julie says as she flops back on her bed. 

Luke says silent for a second, waiting for her to kick him out, tell him he’s being creepy, or tell him that she never wants to see them again. She does none of those things. Instead, she pats the space on the bed next to her. Luke hesitates for a minute. Exasperated Julie says. 

“Luke, I don’t know if being dead for twenty years messed up your ability to pick up on social signals, but someone patting a surface is usually an invitation to sit where that person is patting”. And with that, she pats the bed again, to emphasize her point. 

Luke smiles, then gingerly lays where she patted, making sure to leave space between them so Julie wouldn’t have to deal with the uncomfortable sensation of passing through a ghost. 

Julie turns on her side to face Luke and following her example, Luke also rolls on his side. 

“I don’t know if I can agree to rejoin the band again” 

Luke’s heart sinks. 

“But-” And Luke’s heart raises so fast that if he still had blood he would have felt light-headed, “I forgive you guys. I just need some time to figure out if I can trust you guys enough to sign with you again” As she says this, a curl falls into her eyes, and all Luke wants to do is reach up and brush it away, hold her cheek, and kiss- but he can’t do that. Plus, she deserves someone better than a high school dropout ghost singer who couldn’t even survive until his big break. 

Registering what Julie said, Luke responds, “I understand. Thank you. But please promise you’ll think about rejoining the band. We’re nothing without you.” 

And he might be imagining it, but Julie’s eyes seem to flicker to his lips. She’s taking shorter breaths, and biting her lip, and if he wasn’t a ghost and totally unworthy of her, Luke would’ve thought she wanted to kiss him. And for a second, he lets himself sink into a fantasy. Where he wasn’t a ghost and he just met Julie and they could touch. Where they could be normal and have normal couple fights instead of fighting about him abandoning her to go to a ghost club. He imagines kissing her, feeling all of her warmth focused on him, falling in love with him- and woah way too far. 

Julie sharply turns away from him and lets out a nervous little giggle. Odd, Luke thinks. 

“Well, it’s late and I really should get to bed, you know lots to think about, plus I need to get ready for music with Carrie, who’s bound to have some really fun things to say to me and-”

Luke stops her ramble. “Totally. We’ll I’ll head back to the studio. Goodnight. Love-” He stops, “Love what you’ve done with the room! Okay, I’ll just go know!” And with that, Luke passes through her door. As he leaves he hears a faint, 

“Goodnight! Hope you sleep well. Wait, do you even sleep? Whatever. Night!” 

He smiles to himself. Mission accomplished! And he didn’t even reveal his feelings for her. Score! 

\--------------

Julie lays in her bed, staring unseeing at her ceiling, There no way. No way! No way does Luke, a cute, talented ghost boy, likes her! That’s ridiculous! 

But then, she thinks of the way he talked about her and her voice. The way he sang with her. The way he looked at her lips.

And little butterflies erupted in her belly. 

“Shit. I like my ghost bandmate. That’ll be interesting.” And with that Julie goes to bed, dreaming of a certain ghost boy, lyrics and melodies drifting through her head.


End file.
